Do buyers and sellers know what GSM unlocked means?

[AmexGG]

I get the feeling people see the word unlocked and assume it will work on any of the 4 big US carriers. This new iPhone X is an expensive lesson to learn if you run into someone that doesn't know the difference. Lots of credit card disputes or PayPal disputes because the buyer and seller are both clueless.

 

[Flyer888]

Verizon/Sprint actually does work on A1901 too as long as you got LTE signal.

 

[AmexGG]

Verizon/Sprint actually does work on A1901 too as long as you got LTE signal.

Good luck getting either of them to activate it on your account. Just sticking an already activated sim from those CDMA providers is not the same thing.

 

[Wolfmore]

Back when iPhone 5s was the thing I got a super deal on a Verizon iPhone unlocked and put it on AT&T. It was not the same. It worked yes but was handicapped. Can’t recall exactly how it went but I could not get the high speeds I would otherwise. Got rid of it quick as I wanted to stay on AT&T.

 

[chscag]

The Apple SIM free version (whenever that goes on sale) should work with any carrier.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Yeah, Sprint and Verizon use CDMA, and AT&T and T-Mobile use GSM. Because of that disparity, carrier-specific phones cater to carrier specific frequency bands, so using the wrong "unlocked" phone might not be ideal. The phone works, but if certain bands specific to your carrier aren't supported, you end up dropping out of LTE or not seeing full speed LTE. A little bit of web research goes a long way when buying unlocked!

 

[Menel]

Back when iPhone 5s was the thing I got a super deal on a Verizon iPhone unlocked and put it on AT&T. It was not the same. It worked yes but was handicapped. Can’t recall exactly how it went but I could not get the high speeds I would otherwise. Got rid of it quick as I wanted to stay on AT&T.

Each generation adds more and more simultaneous frequency support.

You cant compare chipset capability across 4years.